Question

What does the part of this compound mean? $2,3 - dimethylbutane$.

Answer 1

The IUPAC rules for naming organic compounds must be understood. We need to know that the International Union of Chemical Nomenclature and Terminology (IUPAC) is a globally recognised scheme for chemical nomenclature and terminology. It establishes a standard for organic compound nomenclature and terminology.

Complete step by step answer:
The IUPAC system follows a basic set of rules while naming any compound as given below:
1. Determine if a compound is saturated or unsaturated by using the following format: Saturation and unsaturation are determined by the form of carbon-carbon bonding. Single bonds bind carbons in saturated compounds, while double or triple bonds connect carbons in unsaturated compounds. Alkanes are a family of saturated hydrocarbons with the suffix "-ane" as the root for labelling organic compounds. The suffix "-ene" is used for compounds with double bonds and "-yne" is used for compounds with triple bonds in unsaturated hydrocarbons.
2. Find the parent chain, which is the longest continuous carbon chain: Depending on the number of carbons in the parent chain, the alkanes are names as methane (one carbon parent chain), ethane, propane, butane, pentane, hexane, heptane, octane, nonane, decane (ten carbon parent chain).
3. Locate the functional groups: carboxylic acid ($- COOH$), aldehyde ($- CHO$), ketone ($- CO$), alcohol ($- OH$), and amine are the functional groups (-NH2). In the nomenclature of an organic compound comprising these functional classes, the prefix and suffix are assigned according to their priority.
4. Find the substituents: Substituents in the compound such as methyl , ethyl and others are found by replacing the “ane” ending of the alkane term with “yl.”
5. Number the chain: This is the most significant stage in naming branched compounds and compounds with several functional groups or substituents. The parent chain can be numbered in such a way that the first substituent's place number is the smaller number. If the first substituents from both ends have the same number, then number so that the second substituent has the smaller number.
For the given compounds $2,3 - dimethylbutane$ , the term butane denotes the presence of four ("but") carbons in the parent chain (main chain) of an alkane ("ane"), a kind of hydrocarbon, according to IUPAC nomenclature. Furthermore, $2,3 - dimethyl$ denotes the presence of two ("di") methyl groups: one on carbon $2$ and the other on carbon $3$. Hence, $2,3$ simply implies that the second and third carbons have a methyl group as a substituent.
Since there are multiple organic compounds known, each one requires a systematic nomenclature, which is provided by the IUPAC scheme. The number of carbon atoms, the existence of functional groups, the form of bonding between carbon atoms, and other considerations are used to label compounds.

Note: It should be remembered that, based on the form of the organic compound to be called, the rules for naming organic compounds are complicated and lengthy. In the case of a molecule such as the given $2,3 - dimethylbutane$ , numbering the parent chain correctly is the most important step. Numbering specifies the position of the functional groups or any substituent present.